Bed Bug Interceptors

Interceptors offer the most straightforward and simple approach to capturing bed bugs. They capitalize on the habits and necessary paths that bed bugs must take in order to feed, rather than waiting in places they’re likely to harbor.

Once installed at each post, interceptors transform your bed into a fortress with tiny moats at its old points of weakness.

You can also install these traps on any furniture that has legs. They will effectively protect sofas, chairs, upholstery, and whatever else fits.

Although interceptors come in different shapes and sizes, they currently all work on the same simple principles.

A literal pitfall trap with slick internal walls allows bed bugs to easily get in while a smooth surface or thin coating of powdered pesticides, talcum, or oil make for inescapable holding chambers to be examined at your leisure

LightsOut Bed Bug Detector Review

My Review:The LightsOut Detector was developed by Jeffery White of Bed Bug Central, a leading bed bug entomologist.

Unlike most interceptors and passive traps, no additive oils or powders are used or need.

The LightsOut is made with a super-slick ABS plastic that’s smoother than glass, which makes it inescapable and maintenance-free!

ABS plastic is stronger and more break resistant than what most traps are made of.

Its black color is actually attractive to bed bugs and also makes it easy to see the smallest of nymphal bed bugs. It also makes the LightsOut a discreet product if you’re looking to get something that doesn’t draw questions or attention.

More so than other passive monitors, the use of bedpost interceptors gives you a great chance at detecting bed bugs early.

Catching a single bed bug in the LightsOut before an infestation explodes would easily make it worth the small investment.

As someone looking for a product to use permanently beneath my bed legs, I chose the LightsOut because of its complete lack of necessary maintenance, ruggedness, and discreetness.

The LightsOut not only works as described, it goes beyond what’s expected. I know it’ll last years.

Once installed in a hotspot like behind headboards, in cars, or beneath beds, it can catch bed bugs early on with no work or bait involved.

By offering an irresistible hiding place full of small crevices near their food source, the monitor makes bed bugs do all the work.

After engorging themselves with blood, bed bugs must shed some of their excess weight and size in order to literally fit back into their claustrophobic homes.

Checking the BB Alert passive is as simple as inspecting the exterior white skirt for fecal spots where bed bugs excreted that extra weight.

There is a monthly calendar on the alert that you can use to monitor your progress, however I don’t believe it needs to be used at all. You can start marking once you’ve found an infestation or signs of bed bugs in the monitor.

Until then, there’s no need to run the calendar and potentially waste the unit.

For those living in high-risk areas like Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, or Philadelphia, this passive monitor is a great idea. Especially for those living in unit-style housing like an apartment.

Early detection has the potential to save you thousands. If caught early, bed bugs are many times easier and cheaper to deal with.

In spite of this, early detection of bed bugs is notoriously difficult. Many that find themselves significantly infested had no idea it was happening until it was in full-swing.

Installing a BB Alert Passive monitor allows you to skip the laborious task of pre-emptive bed teardowns in the hunt for bed bugs.

SenSci Volcano Bed Bug Detector Review

This means they don’t actively lure bed bugs, but capture them on their way to you while you sleep.

You can set them and forget them once you’ve determined the route that bed bugs are likely to take on their way to your bed. Placing Volcanos along the walls, in corners, and the legs of your bed is a good way to make use of your traps.

Unlike interceptors, the Volcano is meant to target any bed bug pathway, not just the bed. With the default pack of 12 you can cover a lot of ground and potential paths.

Clear plastic bottoms make inspection and cleaning a breeze.

The SenSci works because studies have shown that bed bugs instinctively climb up any vertical faces they encounter on their way up to you on your bed.

This works well as long as you place them strategically in places we know bed bugs like to travel frequently. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee bugs falling for the pitfall, especially if you have an early infestation on your hands.

That’s where to optional lures come in.

You can make the Volcano active by using their proprietary lure developed at Rutgers University, which fits neatly into the trap. These traps work by replicating the scent of human sweat which draws bugs in.

My Review:The NightWatch is the closest thing you’ll get to an actual person lying between two pitfall traps.

It makes use of every bait on the market to increase its chances of catching bed bugs without you having to be there.

It is expensive upfront, requires two kinds of refills, and does not include a CO2 canister out-of-the-box…but it absolutely works and will prove to be integral for anyone battling bed bugs where a person cannot act as bait.

Bed bugs notoriously know when to go dormant in the absence of a food source. Applied residual sprays and powders will sit there for weeks untouched by most bed bugs as they wait for a reason to be active.

With the NightWatch, you don’t have to worry about residuals wearing off and missing their marks.

Bed bugs will act exactly as if someone was sleeping in the room and will be out and about getting trapped in the NightWatch and, more importantly, coating themselves in CimeXa and Temprid as a by-product.

Need to treat a vacant guest room, bathroom, closet, or living room? The NightWatch will have your back.

Hotels, vacant apartments, and any other unit-style property owner or tenant will adore the NightWatch and its undeniable results and efficacy.

People report that a their NightWatch single-handedly destroys bed bug populations. With a proper IPM in place, your results will be swift and sweeping.

If you’re willing and able to shoulder the upfront costs and relatively inexpensive refills, you’ll get some incredible results.

My Review:Current studies show that CO2 is one of the most effective lures.

It works because bed bugs naturally hone in on the air we exhale.

The Beacon takes advantage of that instinct by slowly seeping enough CO2 for bed bugs to hone in on. They’re then lured into its pitfall trap where you can keep tabs of populations during an infestation and confirm when an infestation is eradicated.

A single Bed Bug Beacon includes enough CO2 to run for a full 2 weeks – more than enough time to guarantee that an infestation has ended.

As with the any active lure, the Beacon helps pull otherwise inactive bed bugs out of hiding and into the open. This is a crucial ability for those treating rooms or homes that are unoccupied.

Products like the beacon allow you to treat for bed bugs with residual powders and sprays without a person in the room.

Something important to consider is that after the initial cost of the complete unit, refills of CO2 come to about $1 per day. That’s for a product produced by the same people that make the industry-leading Packtite.

That’s definitely the cheapest you’ll run an active trap for, especially from a reputable manufacturer.

Why Buy Traps?

Traps can yield useful markers to help you properly identify bed bugs by capturing live samples, cast skins, and fecal stains.

I always first recommend securing the bed and making it a sanctuary. Encasements are the most important thing to install once you start treating for bed bugs.

Once you have encasements and traps installed, you will effectively eliminate ALL biting, so long as you keep the bed away from walls, bedding off the ground, and ensure that you’re clean and wearing protected clothes before getting in bed.

If you don’t have an IPM set up, please take the time to do so – it will make the biggest difference between staying bugged and getting debedbugged!

A professional pest control operator should recommend the exact same thing. A good bed bug spray, dust, and encasement are core necessities.

8-Step Bed Bug Proof Bed Printable

I mentioned at the beginning of this page that traps are the second step to take when creating a bed bug sanctuary for yourself.

Properly installing encasements and taking the right measures to keep bed bugs off your bed are steps that are as important, if not more important, than installing traps.

To help you get it all in order, I’ve developed a supplemental bed proofing printable that you can download and print for free!

Interested in more quality printables covering everything from choosing a Pest Control Operator to creating an IPM? Give the Ebook a try and I’ll send you all of them immediately with no strings attached.

The printables will help in your quest to get rid of and stay free from bed bugs!

Thanks for Reading!

A thorough integrated pest management plan should involve both passive and active methods of monitoring. Traps provide seriously cheap and effortless results when dealing with any stage of bed bug infestation.

Whether you’re trying to catch one for identification, are preventing them from climbing onto your bed at night, or want to keep tabs on a waning population, bed bug traps work for you 24/7 without upkeep.

I would recommend a set of interceptors for your bed at the very least – mine immediately saved me a lot of grief!